Good Luck
by LovelyLori
Summary: Naruto was a simple man. He never saw the beauty in fine arts or any point in learning a new language. She changed his whole outlook on life when he watched her dance for the first time. Modern AU. Rating subject to change.
1. Ballerina

This was originally posted on Tumblr, and I meant to put it on here, I really did, but it slipped my mind completely. Happy holidays by the way.

So, this is new. I went from guns and drugs to tutus and classical music, oh lord. But I think this is a nice change of pace. A big thanks to lovebugdarien for being my beta. I don't how I'd manage by myself. (By the way, check her out on here and on Tumblr, she's super cool.)

Alright, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 1: Ballerina

* * *

Carnations.

The elderly woman who came into the Yamanaka Flower Shop a few days earlier asked Naruto what they had meant. He rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin, and admitted that he didn't know. Boy, if Ino had seen him then, she surely would have berated him for never bothering to learn the language of flowers.

To his surprise, the old woman smiled earnestly. Her wrinkles had become more pronounced. She held the bouquet in her arms, and told him that each color meant something different. It just so happened that her husband's birthday was on that same day, and she purchased red carnations to show her deep her affection ran for him.

But if she wanted to do that, couldn't she have gotten him some red roses? That would've conveyed the same message to him, wouldn't it?

When he asked, she laughed. Then she said something very profound.

"I chose these flowers today because I want to show that my love may come in different forms. But no matter how many forms it comes in, it's always the same love – my love." Then she paid for her bouquet and slowly hobbled out of the door.

For some reason, it left a rather warm feeling in Naruto's chest.

Today at the shop, Naruto could hardly focus on watering the plants correctly. To think that old people could still be madly in love after years of being together. His mother and father were like that as well, always so happy together. Would the two of them grow to be just like that old woman and her husband? He gave a snort. Maybe it was possible. After all, not everyone was bitter as Granny Tsunade and that old pervert Jiraiya, and they weren't even a couple.

Or so Tsunade said anyway.

"Hey Naruto," Ino cried. "You're over watering the plants! Quit it!" The water in the flower pot had begun to overflow, spilling all over the white, ceramic tiled floor.

"Ah, shit! I'm sorry!" Naruto set down the watering can, frantically searching for something clean the mess he made. Ino had come to the rescue with a few small towels in her arms. "Uh, thanks Ino," he laughed sheepishly.

"Don't give me that kind of laugh! Honestly, if I wasn't running things around here, this shop would've burned to the ground ages ago," she frowned. When she wasn't at work, Ino was the most carefree, fun-loving person he had ever known. Beside himself anyway.

She had a passion for flowers, and lived by her own motto: There's no meaning to a flower unless it blooms.

It was something that Naruto thought about quite often. So often that he decided to ask her about what it meant a few years back when he first began working at the shop. That was when she told him about the language of flowers, and that all flowers, alone or arranged in a beautiful bouquet, had something they were meant to say. If they never bloomed, then they would never be able to convey that message, so what meaning could they possibly hold?

Under her breath she mumbled, " _That goes for people too._ "

If he remembered correctly, Ino told him that when she and Sai had been "dating" but not exactly dating. She was quite frustrated with him for not being able to say what exactly it was that he wanted from their non-relationship at the time. But in the end, everything worked out for those two.

"Hey, are you going to help me clean this up or not?" Ino asked, and Naruto mumbled a small apology before kneeling down to clean the mess. "What were you even thinking about that made you screw up this bad?"

To tell her about how an elderly woman warmed his heart a few days ago would be embarrassing, and he blushed. Wrong move, because to Ino, a pink hue on the cheeks meant that he was thinking of someone fondly. The large grin on her face was starting to annoy him. "Cut it out!"

"Oh, come on! Don't be shy," she purred. "Were you thinking of a cute girl? A few of them _did_ come in today. There was one with curly hair and a very cute face – she looked like your type." Suddenly, Naruto stood up to wring out the towel in the sink.

"I don't have a type," he commented nonchalantly. This was true. In middle school, he had only a fleeting crush on Ino's best friend. In high school, romance was completely lost on him. Now? Well, he had gone steady with a girl for a while, but it didn't really work out. After two and a half years, something just felt off, so he cut it off.

For an entire six months after the break up however, there was a lot of making up, dating for a week or two, and then breaking up again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

"Everyone has a type, Naruto. I'm sure you do too," Ino walked over to the sink, wringing the water out her towel. "Come on, what do you like in a girl? Any specific hair and eye color? What about facial features? Not even a body type?"

"I don't care about her hair or eyes or her face, and if I answered your last question, I'd just sound like a pervert to you," he said, before snatching Ino's towel out of her hand to toss into a small hamper. He walked back to resume watering the plants and Ino trailed him.

"You don't care about her face? What if she's ugly? You know, with a weird expression and a runny nose," Ino teased as she contorted her face into some weird looking scowl. "Her mouth would be open like this and snot would get in it. Then you'd have to kiss her. **Gross!** "

Naruto cringed. "There's no one that looks like that for one, and two, how old are you? Also, why would her nose be runny _all_ the time? Is she sick or something?" Ino only laughed. "Besides, I wouldn't date her if she looked like that."

Ino put on her infamous 'gottcha' face. "Aha! I knew you cared about that kind of stuff!"

Naruto groaned in response.

The ringing of the bell caught their attention and Ino made her way over to the register to greet their current customer. He had come in to pick up a bouquet today. And speaking of bouquets, "Hey that reminds me," said Ino. "Naruto, there are a few flower arrangements in the back with addresses on them. Mind delivering those for me sometime today?"

"Does it have to be today?" Naruto mumbled.

" _Yes_ , today. That's what we were paid extra for!" She cried.

He got the message loud and clear.

* * *

He knew he shouldn't have been reading the cards attached to the flowers, but a lot of these were pure gold. One person wanted to apologize to their significant other because they were caught cheating. They weren't actually sorry for the act of cheating, just sorry that they were caught. Another sent flowers for their sister's wedding with the words, "I hope you're happy you piece of trash," scrawled on it.

Naruto had half a mind to draw a garbage can on it.

Shifting through the flowers to find which one was closest to his current destination, a bouquet of red and pink roses caught his eye. Well, it wasn't so much that it caught his eye, but more so that it was the biggest bouquet there.

He opened the card to read it, but it was written in a different language. Naruto didn't even know what language it was, nor did he care to know. Though, it would have been nice to know what the card said. The name was written in a language he could read – thank goodness for that.

Hinata, it read.

Well, whoever she was, she was certainly loved. Were roses her favorite or something? They always seemed kind of gaudy and cheap to him. They were the hackneyed symbol of love and passion. Everyone that came by the shop always purchased them for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. It brought in very good business, he had to say, but those flowers were also a source of chaos too. When out on display, people would snatch up a rose or two to give to their date.

Ino always rushed out screaming like a banshee to have the flowers returned. Naruto couldn't really understand why. One little rose didn't really seem like it was worth the trouble. He never voiced that opinion though, due to his fear of Ino's wrath.

Blue eyes scanned the paper of addresses, and Hinata's was a little weird. There were no residential places in that area, just a huge, fancy plaza. Then it dawned on him that she might have worked there. That plaza was one of the biggest tourist attractions in town and the stores were pretty high end. I was a great place for spending time with friends, but Naruto didn't like the fact that he'd have to find parking in such a crowded area.

Would he be able to deliver all of these flowers today?

No, there was no question about it. He had to. His salary depended on it.

The low humming of his car put him at ease and his fingers tapped lightly on his lap. There wasn't too much traffic today, but a lot of people were out and about; their hands full with shopping bags. Speaking of shopping, Sai and Shikamaru had reminded him of Ino's upcoming birthday.

Hell, _Ino_ reminded him of her upcoming birthday.

He'd have to go shopping to get her a present, but after years of knowing her, he never really knew what to buy her. Shikamaru and Choji always treated her to dinner. It was always some kind of thing they had together.

Sai was artistic, so he could get away with painting her a pretty picture. But what was Naruto to do? He wasn't exactly loaded, nor did he know how to shop properly for a woman. And if he didn't get her a gift, he'd never hear the end of it.

Naruto had become lost in thought, and in no time he had reached his destination.

"Huh, it's that big theatre house." he mumbled. He had never been one for seeing plays or ballets. Quite frankly, he found them to be a bit boring. Sai loved to watch them and invited Naruto when Ino couldn't make it. He'd always end up dozing off, and by the time he woke up, the show was already over. Sai would always pester him about it, saying, _"Why'd you come with me? If you were going to sleep, you could have just stayed home."_

Naruto only thought he was just being nice by accepting the offer. Now that he knew how annoyed Sai was when he fell asleep on all that fancy, aristocrat stuff, Naruto had begun declining the offers ever since. Why he still insisted on inviting him was lost on Naruto.

With Hinata's bouquet in hand, he walked into the theatre, and immediately regretted the decision. The halls were as grand and golden as he remembered them and the red carpeting always managed to stay so clean. If memory served him right, the theatre was never this full. The crowd was absolutely overwhelming, to the point where he hardly had enough room to breathe.

After wandering around idly for some time, he reached a spot much less congested, and sighed in relief. It was amazing that the bouquet wasn't ruined in that sea of people.

"Oh my, what beautiful roses! I wish someone would send me roses like that."

The woman admired the roses with a hint of envy in her eyes, but her smile looked genuine. Naruto gave a small smile in return. "Yeah, they're wonderful, and they belong to Hinata. You wouldn't happen to be Hinata, would you?" To both their dismay, she replied no.

"She's actually one of the girls performing in The Nutcracker," the woman pointed to one of the nearby posters. If anything, those girls looked pretty ridiculous, with their long, white skirts and silly crowns adorning their heads. "I can take you to her, if you'd like. The show doesn't start until another half hour."

"Oh, thanks! That'd really make my day," he beamed. As the two of them walked down to the dressing rooms, Naruto noted that most of the posters on the walls were for this show that Hinata was in. "So, what's all the hype about this show?" he asked.

It was just another Nutcracker show. They put on a whole bunch of them during the holiday season, so what was so special about this one?

The usher hummed in thought. "Well, for me personally, The Nutcracker is my favorite ballet, and I hear these women are very talented. They've been taught by one of the best dance teachers in the world, so everyone's very excited to see how the show will go."

"Huh, I'm sure there's a lot of pressure on those girls then, living up to the image of a legend," said Naruto. Maybe delivering these flowers were a good thing. Receiving a large bouquet would help ease stage fright.

"Here we are," the woman said, opening the door to a rather large dressing room. Clothes were strewn about everywhere, and the room was so bright that it was almost blinding. There was only one person there currently, and the moment the door opened, she turned away from her vanity in one fluid motion. She was beautiful.

Her dark, silky tresses were pulled up into a neat bun. Her pale skin looked so smooth and radiant. Faintly, he was reminded of the moon when. She didn't shine as vibrantly as the sun, but he could tell that she was subtle, and truly shone out while in her element.

When she turned to look at him, her almond-shaped, white eyes widened slightly in curiosity, as if they were asking who he was and what he was doing here. Naruto could feel his chest tighten, and suddenly, he was feeling quite embarrassed.

"I have to go usher everyone inside," the woman said hurriedly, "but I trust that you'll leave promptly, right?"

"W-wait a moment –!" Naruto cried out to her, but it was no use. She was gone, leaving him and Hinata alone together.

People like this only existed in magazines and television, but here she was, standing right in front of him in all her beauty. His voice had gotten caught in his throat, and for a moment, he wondered if his breath smelled funny.

"U-um…" she spoke hesitantly. Her hands rested at her chest, and she looked to be concealing herself from him. Was she uncomfortable? Had he been making her uncomfortable?

"Oh! Uh, you're Hinata, right?" He grinned. Honestly, what possessed him to ask a stupid question like that? Oh course she was Hinata – the usher said she would take her to him, and there she was in the flesh! But he couldn't help it. For the first time in his life, he was rendered speechless, which was no easy feat.

Reluctantly, Hinata nodded, casting her gaze to the floor. "Um… y-yes…"

"Good! Uh, so these are for you! Those are a lot of roses. Someone must really like you a lot, huh?" He laughed. However, Hinata didn't seem to find him amusing. She nodded slightly, still unable to meet his gaze. This was getting awkward very quickly. "S-so uh… here. These are for you."

She had finally looked up at him to accept the bouquet of roses, but there was something off about her expression. She looked rather confused. "Ah… u-um…" she mumbled. "Th-thank you?"

Then it clicked.

Hinata didn't speak or understand English very well, did she? Her accent was pretty thick, and not to mention, the card on the bouquet was written in an entirely different language. Did she not understand what he was trying to do?

It seemed not, since she was ready to hand back the bouquet to him. Oh no, she had the wrong idea entirely! "No, no!" Naruto cried, pointing to the bouquet. "Card, card! There's something written on the… uh…" This was proving to be difficult.

Naruto pretended to write something on his left hand before pointing to the bouquet. Then he mimicked opening an imaginary card to read it. Hinata seemed to understand this time, and rotated the bouquet to find a small card attached.

He almost scoffed. And Ino said practicing miming was a waste of time during work. Look at the trouble it got him out of just now. Though, this also could have been avoided if he understood languages better. Hinata mumbled something in her native tongue before thanking him once again.

"No sweat!" Naruto grinned. "So um, you're a dancer, huh? That's pretty cool." Hinata tilted her head in question, and the uncomfortable look on her face returned. Naruto scratched the back of his head before assuming the fifth position, or at least, a very sloppy version of it. His arms were over his head but his feet were in the wrong position. Instead, he stood on his toes and attempted to spin around. "This! You do this, right? Dance?"

Soft giggles escaped from Hinata's lips as she watched Naruto's goofy attempt at ballet. Well, she didn't exactly do _that_ , but she nodded in response. "Yes, um… on stage." Her smile was rather enchanting, and if acting a fool got her to smile, he'd consider doing it more often.

"Well, I should probably get outta here. I still have work I've gotta do. But hey," Naruto grinned, giving her a thumbs up, "good luck out there, alright?"

Hinata didn't catch most of that, but she responded well to it. She smiled, and gave a thumbs up in return. With that, she set her roses down at her vanity, and walked off to the backstage area. The show was going to start any minute now, and without a second thought, Naruto rushed back stage just to see her.

Hinata was a completely different person on stage compared to the woman he first laid eyes on in the dressing room. She wasn't the main focus of the show. She wasn't the only woman there.

But for some reason, Naruto couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Maybe it was because he was watching her in her element. The way she moved with such poise and grace made his heart race. Hinata was always precise with where her feet pointed when she landed or the position of her arms after gliding across the stage.

He was sure at one point that they had locked eyes for a second, but Hinata hadn't seemed to notice him in the dark corner. Naruto, however, felt like they had locked eyes for an eternity, and the feeling left chills down his spine.

His body felt numb and his face tingly. Calloused fingers gripped the red stage curtain tighter as she danced across the stage. Every pirouette left him breathless and her the look of confidence she donned put a tinge of color on his cheeks.

She was someone rare – someone that Naruto never thought he'd meet in his lifetime. She was enigmatic, but intriguing. Reserved, but not without a sense of her own self-worth. Hinata was, in every way sense of the word, beautiful. From the way the conducted herself to her movements on the big stage, she was just a delight to look at.

Now, Naruto decided, he was sure that he wanted to see Hinata again.


	2. Bouquet

I don't really have a reason for why this took me so long lol. Shit happened, I'm sorry.

Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 2: Bouquet

* * *

Today, the irises bloomed.

Naruto's finger glided over one of the petals gently. They were freshly watered, it seemed, as he wiped his finger on the side of his jeans. Then he continued watering the poppies. While he was glad to see that each flower bloomed beautifully, his favorite for this week was the lavender iris.

Such a light and soft color. Soothing as well. The flower's veins were only a shade or two darker, and he quite liked the way that the petal's edges ruffled. It was almost as if it was some kind of well-crafted hem to a fancy dress.

It wasn't as loud and vibrant compared to its other siblings, but it was still beautiful and it was still elegant.

Much like Hinata was.

Naruto's teeth sank into his bottom lip just at the thought of her, and lately, he had been thinking about her quite a lot. At the shop, he often thought about how the lavender irises matched her eye color perfectly. Despite the warm look he remembered her for, thinking about staring into her eyes sent chills up his spine. It also left him with butterflies in his stomach.

When outside, he'd compare the swaying of leaves in the trees to the way she danced across stage. It was gentle and rhythmic – never failing to entice her audience. Never failing to entice him. Hinata was always in perfect synch to the music, and everything about the way she moved seemed effortless, but never careless.

Her essence hit him the hardest last night when the full moon loomed over busy city streets, emitting its usual soft light. It reminded him of her faint smile and the soft bit of laughter she gave after he got her to relax a little. He let out a heavy sigh.

Naruto never saw the ballerina since, and it had been exactly two weeks since their encounter. Yes, he was counting.

There wasn't a day that went by were Hinata hadn't been on his mind, and it was beginning to put him on edge. He wanted to see her again. He wanted to watch her dance again. He wanted to hear her laughter once more. Even the smallest glimpse of her would suffice.

He needed an excuse.

Anything that would justify another trip to the theatre house. Naruto had no money to pay for a ticket to her show, or at least for a good seat where he could see her perfectly. He also couldn't just waltz into the dressing room and watch from backstage.

It was a miracle that he narrowly avoided security the last time, and he wasn't eager to repeat it. After a moment of rethinking it, Naruto decided that he would repeat it if it meant that he would get to see Hinata in person, and not in just a couple of pictures online.

He smiled at the thought of her photogenic pictures as the flower pots overflowed with water.

"What did I tell you about over watering the plants?" Ino's booming voice pierced through his thoughts like a crack of lightning and he quickly backed away from the large puddle on the ground in a comical pose.

He was about to start apologizing, but Ino never gave him the chance. "What're you just standing there for? Go get a mop, you moron, before the customers slip and fall!" The last thing they needed was a lawsuit on their hands.

As he dashed off to find a mop, Ino let out a sigh of agitation as she rubbed the sides of her head to sooth the throbbing sensation in her temples. "I've probably got a couple of gray hairs because of him, I swear."

The customer she had been tending to let out a small laugh. "But he does look like a hard worker. Don't be too hard on him," she said before picking up her bouquet.

She gave a sheepish smile, thinking about how unprofessional she must have sounded just now. "I'll try not to. But, I hope your wife likes the flowers! Come again soon," Ino waved to the woman. Once she was gone, Ino turned to face Naruto, who was hard at work cleaning the floor.

"Look at you, getting me in trouble with customers," she mumbled.

"It's not my fault you're always yelling. Relax for once, why don't you?" He pouted.

Easy for him to say. He wasn't the one running a business. With her hands on her hips, Ino looked him up and down with a hint of annoyance. "So, what's your deal anyway? You've been spacing out a lot recently, and it's not just at work either." The other night, she, Naruto and Sai had gone for some drinks at the bar. Naruto seemed so secluded and reserved – totally unlike his usual boisterous self.

"I'm fine. I've just been tired recently," he lied. "It's probably because you over work your employees."

With a roll of her eyes, she muttered, "Oh haha," her voice was laced with sarcasm. "You know, I've been worried about you. I'm even too afraid to send you out on deliveries before you get lost in thought and smash your car into a tree."

Naruto had gone slack-jawed upon hearing this. "We've had deliveries this entire time?"

The disbelief in his voice was strange, Ino thought, but she nodded. "Yeah, we get deliveries all the time. I've been asking the others to handle it instead."

"But _why_?" He could have been seeing Hinata this entire time!

"I just said I'm scared you'll smash your car into a tree, what is wrong with you?" Ino cried.

The incredulous look he gave her faltered, and Naruto could feel his cheeks redden in embarrassment. He shouldn't have been getting so worked up over a woman he'd only met once in his entire life, but he was, and that fact caused his face to grow a couple shades darker. "S-sorry," he mumbled, scratching the side of his face with his index finger. "I just like driving because it clears my head, y'know. So I'd like to go instead of being cooped up in here."

There was no way he could tell her about Hinata. First, she'd demolish him for playing Romeo while on a business schedule. Then she'd ask all sorts of nonsensical questions about who she was and what kind of relationship they had. Naruto wasn't too keen on telling her that their relationship was nonexistent.

Ino placed a hand daintily on her forehead and sighed. "If it'll keep you from killing all my plants, then go ahead. Just make sure that you stay out of trouble, you hear me?"

He snorted. "Whatever you say, _mom_ ," was the last thing he said to her before disappearing into the back of the shop. There were only five arrangements today, and Naruto made sure to check all the cards. His heart sunk into the pit of his stomach. Not one of these were addressed to Hinata. Did this mean that he wouldn't get to see her after all?

His eyes wandered from Ino's flower arrangements to the irises in full bloom just ways away from him. Naruto silently wondered if Ino would arrange those for him too.

* * *

The theatre house was the last stop he made on his delivery route. It was just as crowded as the last time he'd come here, but there was no feeling of dread. In fact, Naruto's nerves were all over the place. He'd get to see Hinata in all her beauty.

A small hint of pink dusted his cheeks at the thought.

Undoubtedly, she was attractive, but there was something else about her that drew him in. She was more than just a pretty face, he could feel it. However, it'd be difficult to find out what it was that drew him in when they couldn't even understand each other.

Naruto stopped in his tracks. Maybe that's what it was? The desire to understand and communicate with her. Hinata must have had something remarkable to say. From what he found out about her online, her life seemed pretty eventful since she was a bit of a celebrity.

Leave it to Naruto to become head over heels for a famous person who probably didn't even remember his face.

The tightening of his grip on the bouquet caused the decorative plastic to crinkle, and for a moment, his breathing had gone funny. Hopefully his nerves wouldn't get the best of him today.

"Oh hey! I remember you!" That voice sounded familiar. Slightly raspy, and somewhat sultry, but still friendly. She jogged up to him with a smile. "You're that flower delivery boy, right?" Gee, what gave that away? The apron and cap with the shop logo or flowers in his hand?

Deciding to be civil, Naruto gave a grin of his own. "Yeah, and you're that usher lady."

She scoffed. "Usher lady? I am wearing a nametag, you know."

With a deadpanned look, Naruto muttered, "Yeah, well so am I." It didn't seem like she heard him though.

"You're here to give those flowers to the girl in The Nutcracker show, right?" the woman beamed. "Though, those flowers aren't as pretty as the roses she got the last time."

Naruto frowned. Roses were prettier than irises? Yeah right! His bouquet was sure to be much better than any boring old rose. "Hey, I'm only the delivery guy. I don't pick out the flowers, I just make sure they get to their intended recipient. That's all."

She shrugged, and the two of them continued on to the dressing rooms. "You know," she started, "you aren't even supposed be back here. But I enjoy talking to you, so don't let anyone know that I bring you here."

She didn't know the huge favor she was doing for him right now. "Uh, thanks. It actually makes my job a lot easier." Of course he had to see to it that the customers received their flowers, but the usher didn't need to know about his desire to see Hinata again.

Naruto waited patiently as the usher went in to look for Hinata. With all the noise coming from behind the metal door, it seemed that the rest of the girls were in there too. When she came back out with no Hinata, he wondered if she wouldn't be performing today.

"Give her about five minutes, she's getting dressed right now," she said. Naruto smiled and expressed his gratitude before she waved it off. "It's fine, it's fine. I can't stay here and wait for her to come out. I need to go back to my station before I get in trouble."

"That's fine. Thanks again for all your help, uh… Karin!" He grinned after reading her nametag.

"Didn't I say it was fine already? I've got to go, okay? See you around, Flower Boy!"

She ran off, and Naruto cupped a hand around his mouth to cry, "My name's not Flower Boy! It's Naruto! Na-ru-to! You could at least read my nametag too!"

"Naruto?"

"Yeah! That's—" He stopped himself, realizing that it wasn't Karin's voice that called his name. Slowly, he turned to face the woman who spoke his name. "That's right. Uh, hi again."

Hinata didn't answer him. Instead, she tilted her head to the side in question. "Naruto?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that's um…" He paused momentarily before pointing to himself. "I am Naruto." She stared at him for a long while before her hands covered her lips and she began to giggle. As much as he wanted to hear her laugh, he didn't understand why she was laughing at him.

"Narutomaki," she laughed. Now he was even more confused. Was she giving him some sort of nickname or something? Before he had the chance to respond, she shook her head. "I am sorry… oh."

"Oh?" He parroted. Then his eyes traveled to where her finger was pointing. "Oh, r-right! The flowers! Here you go." This time, she accepted them, but she seemed to be looking for something since she turned the bouquet upside down.

Shit. He forgot to add a card! That's what she was looking for! When her eyes looked up at him questioningly, he could only shrug hopelessly, praying that she didn't think he was trying to flirt with her or anything.

"Um, thank you," she smiled, and a feeling of warmth spread through him. She was just so beautiful – God, just standing near her made his heart race against his chest. All he could mutter was a breathless "yeah," as he stared into her eyes. Those irises were very close to her eye color after all.

He watched as a light pink colored her cheeks and she began to cast her gaze into the flowers she'd received. He smiled. "Beautiful, right?"

Her eyes widened and her face grew a couple shades darker. Then, he panicked. "No, no! I meant the flowers!" He cried, pointing to the bouquet in her arms. "The flowers!" Hinata seemed to understand, because then she buried her face in her hand in utter embarrassment.

Naruto winced at his terrible blunder. "B-but! You're beautiful too," Naruto tried to reassure her. "Hinata is beautiful." She raised her head from her hand to ask meekly ask him something, but he had no idea what she said.

Despite this, he nodded.

"Th-thank you…" she mumbled. Naruto wasn't sure what he said yes to, but as long as it calmed Hinata down, he was okay with it. He wanted to say something else to her, but hesitated. She wouldn't be able to understand him anyway.

Just then, she had been called back into the dressing room, and Naruto watched as she vanished behind the door. It wasn't long before she popped back out again to give him a smile and a thumbs up, to which he returned wholeheartedly.

That same night, Naruto did a web search on narutomaki, and found out that it was some type of fishcake served with Japanese noodles. Briefly, he wondered what possessed his mother to give him that name.

Kushina said that she had gotten the name from a novel.

* * *

"Wow! Hinata's becoming super popular lately," one of the ballerinas giggled, eyeing today's bouquet of fresh lilies as Hinata set it down on her vanity.

"I know! I'm so jealous," cried another. "How do you get so many?"

It was a question Hinata had been pondering for weeks now. She wasn't the star of the show, nor was she very popular outside of her home country. And yet, the delivery boy would stop by almost every day to deliver flowers.

Her hotel room was cluttered with flowers of all sorts. Some of the older ones had withered and died but there were many that were alive and well. It made her feel as if she'd woken up in a garden each day. In her time alone, she'd spend a few moments pressing flowers in a small, leather note book. The kind without any lines.

When she'd sit at her desk, she'd kick her feet and hum a tune. It was always something classical these days. Hinata would often think about who could have been sending her all these beautiful arrangements.

It couldn't have been her family. They weren't very affectionate or supportive people. But whoever sent them had to have been very wealthy. Once, she had seen the delivery boy twice in one day with such healthy and radiant bouquets.

Oh, that was wrong of her. His name was Naruto, not Delivery Boy, and she would never allow herself to forget it. It was such a funny name, after all. And it was unique, just like those whisker marks on his cheeks.

And speaking of cheeks, she remembered how hot hers burned when he called her beautiful. Though, he must have been being nice after she embarrassed herself by assuming he was speaking about her in the first place.

Surely he must have been annoyed with her and her mystery admirer. Naruto always had to navigate his way through the crowded theatre house, and when he finally got to deliver the flowers to her, he always looked flustered. Hinata was sure it was because of the language barrier between the two of them.

She would have loved to learn English. Then, maybe she could tell him how thankful she was for his support. He gave her a thumbs up when they first met. Although she wasn't sure about what he said, it had to have been something nice, right? Each time he gave her one, she couldn't help but feel happy.

Another reason she would have liked to learn English was to ask about those flowers he delivered. It didn't seem like he knew her mystery admirer personally, since he often shrugged when she asked about the non-existent cards. However, if she could speak with him, she'd ask what the person looked like. Surely he should have known that much, right?

Finally, Hinata shook her head, telling her fellow dancers that she had no idea who it could have been from.

"Oh, what a shame. Maybe it's from an admirer or something," a ballerina thought aloud.

Another one giggled. "Or maybe it's from an old boyfriend! I'm sure Hinata's had one or two. No one's that innocent!"

As the two laughed and carried on, Hinata's mind zoned in on the words, "old boyfriend." He was hardly a boyfriend, but he did send her those roses a while ago, with what she was sure was some kind of love note. Suddenly, she became uncomfortable with the thought. To accept his flowers each time would be accepting his advances, and as beautiful as those flowers were, Hinata would rather not lead him on.

But it was a pity. That meant that Naruto wouldn't be coming to see her anymore.

* * *

Today's flowers were sunflowers.

Naruto's messages were becoming bolder day by day, from last week's flower meaning joy, to the ones in his arms meaning adoration. Sunflowers were his favorite kind of flower. They stood tall and proud in vast fields, and always looked towards the sun.

When he was small, Naruto remembered being asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. It was in the second grade, the day before summer break. The air was hot and muggy, and the chirping of birds were loud due to the open windows.

There were only 10 minutes of school left, and his teacher handed them all a sheet of paper, asking them to write about what they wanted to be and why. Naruto wasn't quite sure what he wanted to be. He didn't think he was smart enough to be a doctor nor did he think he was strong enough to be a police officer. For a moment, he wondered what kind of person he wanted to be.

A sunflower, he thought.

Naruto wanted to be like a sunflower. While in the garden of their tiny, two-story brownstone apartment, he and his father spent days growing them. Naruto would spend his summer mornings watering the plants with his father, watching the sunflower surpass all the rest each and every day. He wanted to be someone like that.

Someone who stood tall and proud.

That was why they were his favorites, because they were so inspirational. Hopefully, Hinata would draw inspiration from them as well. He wanted her to know how amazing she was on stage, and although he lacked the courage to tell her that he was the one sending her all those flowers, at least he could make her happy and give her a shot of confidence before she went on stage.

Karin didn't even bother to walk him to the dressing room today, as she was much too busy with other things. She did let Hinata know that she should be expecting him, so all Naruto could do was wait patiently outside those familiar metallic doors in anticipation.

It was only for a minute, but he couldn't help but think about how pretty her smile was, and how he longed to see it. Man, he really was pathetic, wasn't he? Sending flowers to a dancer who probably had a boyfriend just to see her face again. He almost scoffed.

"Naruto-san?"

Hinata's voice had startled him. He hadn't even heard the doors open, nor did he feel her presence. But it wasn't unwelcomed. The moment he looked up at her, he could tell that something was off. It looked as if something had been weighing her down. If only there wasn't that language barrier between them. He could have cheered her up more effectively.

Still, Naruto put on his best smile to greet her. "Hey, Hinata! It's nice to see you again."

She wasn't sure what he said, but his smile was enough to ease her slight feeling of anxiousness. In return, she gave him a small smile of her own before playing with the hem of her skirt. As much as she appreciated the time they spent together and how natural their silence felt, she wished so dearly to say, "Hello, how are you doing today?"

Or maybe it would have been better to say goodbye?

Maybe she should have asked her friends to teach her how to say basic conversational phrases in English rather than the phrase, "No thank you." It was always so frustrating for her to listen to him speak to her in such a warm tone each day. She should have been understanding what he was saying to her. She should have, and no matter how hard she strained her ear, she couldn't do it.

"Here. These are for you," He grinned with outstretched arms and a bouquet of sunflowers. Her lips parted momentarily, and she her heartrate increased when their eyes locked. They were so warm and friendly.

The way they dulled when she shakily stuttered out, "N-no thank you," made her uneasy.

"You uh… you don't want them?" His voice was slightly more hoarse than normal, and even though the blush on his face was light, it was there. Was he embarrassed? Even if he was, all Hinata could do was shake her head.

"No. Um, s-sorry."

He retracted the bouquet, and a grin broke out between whiskered cheeks. "Haha, no that's okay. I'll take these back to the store then." Although he smiled, he didn't look very happy. "But hey. Good luck out there today." He gave her another thumbs up before turning to leave.

She watched him ascend the stairs slowly, eyes fixated on his back. Her mouth opened to say something to him in any language that she could, but nothing came out. This didn't sit well with her at all. Would this mean that he'd be in trouble with his company? Maybe she should have accepted them. But she didn't want to be misleading. The flowers and mixed signals would never end if that were the case, so it was best if she didn't.

It was a shame though.

Sunflowers were Hinata's favorite.


End file.
